​A series of essays written about her life and observations, Anna Kendrick’s Scrappy Little Nobody is hilarious, smart, and hilarious. (I have to mention that twice because it’s so funny). Kendrick discusses her dedication as a child actor (she travelled from Maine to NYC by bus with her teenage brother so that she could audition); her experiences on Twilight and Up in the Air; what it’s like being broke and what it’s like being not-broke; and above all, what it’s like to be a short woman who appears younger than she is and who does not quite fit in.

This book is really, really great. Like I noted in my blog post about Amy Schumer’s The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, I appreciate it so much when female writers return to the embarrassing/funny/sad/exciting moments of their lives and mine them for humor.

Which woman (and man?) among us doesn’t remember what a minefield our teen years and early twenties were? (Or was this just me?) But I love that Kendrick finds the humor in those moments and that she’s gentle with that past version of herself without excusing any behavior that she sees as less desirable. The fact is: there is so much humor to be found in what we do, and even in how seriously we take some of it, sometimes.

Despite how funny the book is, the title seems to come from a more serious place: a text to her brother in which she says “I miss being a scrappy little nobody. I was much more capable.” This book is her present-day challenge; a way to “test to see if I still had some nerve.”

I loved Kendrick’s quips, her trenchant observations, and the theme of unconventionality running throughout. Anna Kendrick’s Scrappy Little Nobody is a recommended read for January (or any other time of year), for the “scrappy little nobody” in all of us.